The Troublesome Mission
by marymin
Summary: Shintaro gets dragged along on a mission with the rest of the Dan. Prompt: Needle.


Shintaro had somewhat of a schedule by now, though his days differed from how he'd been in the past. Every morning- and morning for him was at least noon- he'd check his phone for messages from that ragtag group of teenagers. If none, he'd check to see if Momo was home. If she was nowhere to be seen, he'd settle down for a nice relaxing day.

It was true that he'd once considered Ene disruptive, but someone like her no was nothing compared to being surrounded by the gaggle of them, giggling and teasing and as noisy as a flock of geese. Despite how unfriendly he was in response, they insisted on dragging him along, and he hadn't had a day to himself in what felt like weeks.

"Master!"

Well, mostly to himself. With a scowl, Shintaro flicked between windows, pulling up a post he'd made last night and refreshing it to check for replies. Maybe if he ignored her she'd go away. It had never worked before, but there was a first time for everything.

The little number in the top corner ticked higher as the page reloaded, and a grin grew on Shintaro's face- just in time for his view to be blocked by Ene, her arms spread wide and her cheeks puffed up in an impressive pout.

"Master, did you forget?" she asked again, shrill and disapproving, and he groaned.

"What are you on about now?" he asked, clicking at her head and pigtails and dragging sideways, as if he could haul her out of the way. She batted at the mouse arrow as though it was nothing but an annoying fly. Who was supposed to be the master here again, anyhow?

"You already promised to help out today! Well, well, really I promised for you, but it's kind of the same thing. I can't believe you weren't paying attention."

That got Shintaro's attention at least, and he leaned forward, leaning his elbows on his desk. "What's that? You signed me up for something? I can't believe it."

Before he could ask anymore, however, his mother's voice called his name from downstairs.

Ene's smirk grew, if possible, and Shintaro expected to see her grow devil horns any minute now. "They must be here!"

Too crotchety to ask who 'they' was, especially with his mother yelling his name again, Shintaro pushed back from the computer, making to leave the room.

"Wait, wait, at least take your phone!" Ene yelped, suddenly sounding panicked, and Shintaro considered leaving it behind. But that was a sort of 'cut off your nose to spite your face' kind of situation, and if this ended up taking a long time and he wasn't able to check the internet because he'd left it behind... well, he really would die.

Snagging his phone from the side of his desk, Shintaro rolled his eyes as Ene popped up on it in a swirl of electric blue.

"Shintaro!"

"I'm coming!" he bellowed, throwing open his bedroom door.

As he passed Momo's room, it seemed she wasn't home, so either she had idol activities to do today, or she was already out with those idiots.

When he reached downstairs, he was greeted with a sight he'd never expected or wanted to see.

At one end of the living room couch, a teenager sat with a cup of water in his hands, somehow looking goofy and too-big for the furniture. As Shintaro entered, he glanced up and beamed at him, and the older boy felt his scowl darken.

Even worse, the other visitor on the other end of the couch was already smiling, a genuine-looking grin aimed at Shintaro's mother, who was laughing. Shintaro knew from experience, though, that it had to be anything but genuine.

His mother looked towards him as he came in, reaching over to pat the teen on the shoulder. "Shintaro, I didn't know you were friends with such upstanding young men!"

She made it sound as though it was his fault. This didn't happen on purpose, Mother, I assure you.

"Ahhh, more like, you didn't tell us your mother was such a lovely woman," Kano added, his grin turning into a pointed smirk as he aimed it towards Shintaro.

Against such a two-pronged attack, Shintaro was helpless. His shoulders sagged and he gave a long sigh.

"What do you two want."

Kano must be relishing his victory, because Seto spoke this time, placing his cup with care on the side table.

"Er, Shintaro, did you forget? You promised to help us out with something."

The truth was that Shintaro had forgotten, or rather he'd never known in the first place, but in front of the both of them and his mother that was somehow difficult to admit.

"Of course not," he hissed between clenched teeth that he tried to form into a smile. "I'm just running a little bit late, that's all."

Kano devolved into helpless giggles, and Shintaro could hear snickering from his cellphone as well, so he he was fairly sure he hadn't convinced anyone.

"That's what we thought!" Seto replied, clapping his hands in delight. "Kisaragi and the others went on ahead, but we doubled back to get you."

"That's right," Kano replied, "but if we don't hurry up, we're all going to be late, you know."

Shintaro had hoped against hope that they'd drop some clue about where they were going, but what happened was them seizing his arms and dragging him protesting from the house.

His mother waved goodbye to them from the doorway, and he wished he could call out to her, something like 'Mother, don't you see I'm getting kidnapped?'. But he doubted she'd do anything useful like call the police anyway. Would the police even be useful against people like these guys? It seemed like with their powers, they could be master criminals if they chose.

...

Although Shintaro protested the quick pace they set, it was only a matter of minutes before they caught up with the rest of their party on the nearby hill. They'd stopped so Mary could nurse a blister on her heel, Momo patting her back to comfort her. Hibiya sat a little ways away, crosslegged on the pavement, refusing to look any of them in the eye. Shintaro felt a sort of comradeship with him; he, too, wished he could pretend he wasn't part of the group. Konoha was circling the three of them restlessly, and as they approached he seemed somehow to appear by their side, addressing Seto and Kano.

"They're safe," he announced, like a soldier announcing a change of shift, and they laughed.

"Good job, Konoha!"

Shintaro felt like rolling his eyes. It was unlikely they'd been in any real danger, unless it was danger from Momo's frightening hordes of fans.

Speaking of Momo... Leaving Mary's side, she marched over to Shintaro and jabbed him in the chest with her finger.

"You're late!" she accused, glaring, and there was nothing Shintaro could say to defend himself.

Luckily, he didn't have to.

"Okay, okay!" Kano called the group over, and even Hibiya scooched around to face them, albeit reluctantly.

Shintaro noticed for the first time that Kido was the only person missing, and so it seemed Kano had become the de facto leader for now.

"We've got 15 minutes to make it there, so we can't have any more delays. Seto, you'll have to carry Mary or she'll complain too much about those blisters. Konoha, you're on Hibiya duty, so please make sure he doesn't escape!"

Hibiya grumbled, though his words were lost in Kano's next announcement.

"Momo and I will keep an eye on our resident elderly man and make sure he doesn't collapse of heatstroke- _again_."

"Hey!" Shintaro hadn't meant to protest, but somehow the indignant exclamation left his mouth anyway. Kano eyed him with a smirk, and Shintaro scowled right back.

"Alright," Kano finished, spreading his hands as if to include all of them. "Mission: Start!"

Of course, it took them several more minutes to get organized. Mary had to be coaxed into putting her boots back on, even though her lip trembled and she protested about her blisters. In the end, Seto ended up carrying her boots as well.

Konoha, too, seemed to have misunderstood his orders as having been to throw Hibiya over his shoulder, and because Hibiya insisted it wasn't necessary, they spent another few minutes convincing Konoha to put him down again.

When they finally got going, they really only had ten minutes left, and Kano and Seto seemed aware of it, setting a pace that was hard for Shintaro to keep up. He seemed to be the only one having trouble, however.

As the minutes ticked on, the hospital loomed in the distance, and to Shintaro's surprise, it was there that they turned.

Konoha stared around at their surroundings, as wide-eyed and blank-faced as ever, and Shintaro leaned in to mutter, "You don't remember being here?"

After all, they'd met Hibiya and Konoha at this place, and Hibiya at least seemed to be affected, his arms crossed tight, and he was sticking close to the group for the first time today.

Konoha just nodded, replying in a normal voice, "I do."

Shintaro was beginning to get a little worried, based on their surroundings, but he was relieved when they turned away from the emergency care section, heading towards the part of the hospital designated for check-ups and various tests.

Kano led them through the halls like he was equipped with a homing beacon or something, the others falling in behind him like a rag-tag parade. Some in the hallways stopped and stared, and Shintaro ducked his head, hoping they wouldn't run into anyone he knew.

With a suddenness that caused Shintaro to walk right into Konoha's shoulder, Kano stopped, lips pursed, to pluck a clipboard from a shelf near one of the rooms. His eyes scanned the paper, and then a wide smile spread across his face.

"Here we are!" he sang, tossing the clipboard down and throwing open the door.

Inside, Kido was sitting on the edge of the examination table, her sleeve rolled up to her shoulder. Her face was white and devoid of color, and there was sweat on her forehead. The cause seemed to be the syringe held by the doctor nearby.

She glanced up at the group of them. Her mouth fell open.

"I brought 'em all, Danchou!" Kano chirped, spreading his arms as if the seven of them were his present to her.

"Get out."

Mary squeaked, and Shintaro didn't blame her. The look on Kido's face was murderous, and he took a half-step backwards out of sheer terror.

Kano seemed prepped to argue, but the doctor spoke up instead.

"I'm sure she appreciates the support, but there's not enough room for all of you in here... Why don't you stay, and there's a waiting room just down the hall if the rest of you would rather stay there until she's done?"

Kano perked up at being the one to stay, and he spun on the spot to face them.

"Change of plans, guys! Go buy some balloons and candy for our beloved Danchou-"

"I can hear you, you know-"

"And a get well card too, definitely!"

"I'm not sick!" Kido protested, and the color was coming back to her face, even if it was just her cheeks burning red in embarrassment and anger.

Given a new mission, the group of them left Kano in the room with her, heading back down the hallway with the sound of them fighting floating down the hall after them.

"Don't worry, Kido, I'll hold your hand."

"I'll stab this through your eye if you touch me."

As the voices faded away and they moved further down the hall, Seto slowed his steps to match Shintaro's speed.

"Kido hates needles," he explained, without prompting, and Shintaro shot him a confused glance, wondering if this was something he should have already known. Seto seemed determined to explain it anyway. "Ever since we were little, we'd go with her for moral support when she had to get shots, y'know? And I guess the idea is, more people is more moral support! ...Maybe this is a little much, though."

He gave a sheepish laugh, and Shintaro rolled his eyes.

As much as they called it a 'mission' and as much as they tried to be cool, it was clear that even the top-ranking members were still just children, and still acted like it. Still, even though that seemed like it should be annoying, the corners of Shintaro's mouth turned up in something like a smile as the loud and annoying gaggle of children turned down the hall towards the hospital gift shop.


End file.
